


Vacillation

by CurlyCue



Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: F/M, Friendship, General Shenanigans, I Don't Even Know, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Strong Language, and stuff, as time goes on, tagging is hard, writing is hard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-07-21 15:15:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7392673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CurlyCue/pseuds/CurlyCue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>To be honest, there is probably a lot about this that doesn't make sense, and not everything is gonna follow the canon, and I made up a chumhandle and blah, blah, blah blah-- but I like it. And I'm gonna continue it. </p><p>And if I'm gonna write it, then I might as well put it up here. </p><p>Have at it, friends.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Vacillation

**Author's Note:**

> To be honest, there is probably a lot about this that doesn't make sense, and not everything is gonna follow the canon, and I made up a chumhandle and blah, blah, blah blah-- but I like it. And I'm gonna continue it. 
> 
> And if I'm gonna write it, then I might as well put it up here. 
> 
> Have at it, friends.

It started out simple. Karkat started trolling you- you never did find out why- and you "trolled" him right on back. You found it amusing. 

Then he stopped.  
For an entire week. 

Which, normally, would have been fine, because apparently "time passed differently" for him. You found that odd, considering he seemed to be serious about that, but didn't question it too much. 

But you had a bad feeling this time; and so, you broke tradition, deciding to initiate contact. Usually, he was the one to start a conversation... but with his absence, you figured it was up to you.

  
**\-- isometricIsosceles began pestering carcinoGeneticist --**

II: Dude, are you okay?  
II: You've been gone for like a week  
II: I'm worried  
CG: CALM DOWN, JEGUS.  
CG: DON'T GET YOUR FUCKING UNDERGARMENTS IN A TWIST JUST BECAUSE I HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO THAN GRACE A LOWLY PIECE OF HUMAN SCUM SUCH AS YOURSELF WITH MY GODLY PRESENCE.  
CG: "OH, KARKAT, I MISSED YOUR CREATIVE INSULTS AND AGGRESSIVE SUPERIORITY/INFERIORITY COMPLEX OR WHATEVER THE MOTHERGRUBBING FUCK IT'S CALLED! PLEASE COME BACK AND SHOOT MORE POINTLESS INSULTS AT ME!"  
II: I did, actually. What's wrong?  
CG: WHAT? NOTHING'S WRONG, YOU WORTHLESS NOOKSTAIN, EVERYTHING'S JUST FUCKING FINE.  
CG: AS ALWAYS, YOU ARE MAKING STUPID ASSUMPTIONS AND ACTING ON THEM. WHY AM I NOT SURPRISED? OH, RIGHT. PROBABLY BECAUSE YOU DO THIS ALL THE GOGDAMN TIME!  
II: Is this about quadrants?  
CG: WHO TOLD YOU ABOUT THOSE  
II: You did, a while ago. Maybe it hasn't happened for you yet?  
CG: WAIT, YOU MEAN YOU BELIEVE ME ABOUT THE TIME SHIT?  
II: Sure, I mean, why not? I'm a huge nerd for time travel and sci-fi stuff, and I'd be pretty thrilled if stuff like that existed.  
II: I mean, what you described isn't exactly time travel, but if it's true, then I guess it seems more likely that time travel is real too.  
CG: HUH. INTERESTING.  
II: You don't mean that, and I know it. Tell me your quadrant troubles.  
CG: WHAT'S THE POINT? WE BOTH KNOW YOU WON'T UNDERSTAND THEM.  
II: Try me. Maybe I'll surprise you.  
CG: UGH, FINE, IF IT'LL SHUT YOU UP.  
CG: I WAS TRYING TO FIND MY MATESPRIT EARLIER, AND WHEN I FOUND HER, SHE WAS WITH MY MOIRAIL, AND APPARENTLY THEY'VE GOT A KISMESISSITUDE GOING, AND NO ONE TOLD ME.  
CG: THEY WEREN'T EVEN HIDING IT. EVERYONE ELSE KNEW. THEY MUST HAVE ASSUMED I KNEW, TOO. BUT I DIDN'T, AND WHEN I FOUND THEM, THEY BOTH BROKE IT OFF WITH ME. APPARENTLY MY MATESPRIT WAS ALSO CHEATING ON ME WITH ANOTHER ONE OF OUR FRIENDS, BUT WHEN HE FOUND OUT ABOUT HER BLACKROM THING WITH GAMZEE AND HER MATESPRITSHIP WITH ME, HE BROKE UP WITH HER.  
II: Wow. Dude, I'm sorry, that sucks ass. They sound like assholes, and probably didn't deserve you anyway.  
CG: THEY ARE ASSHOLES, BUT AT LEAST BEFORE THEY WERE MY ASSHOLES  
CG: THANKS ANYWAY  
CG: DID YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND ANY OF THAT?  
II: Of course I did. I don't know why you were so adamantly insisting that I wouldn't, I mean, it seems pretty straightforward to me, if a little dizzying to keep track of at times.  
CG: I KNOW, RIGHT? GOG, MOST HUMANS ARE SO CONFUSED BY THIS SHIT. IT'S BEYOND MY COMPREHENSION HOW A SPECIES SO IRRITATING AND DUMB PRODUCED SOMETHING AS TOLERABLE AS YOU, LITTLE MAY THAT BE.  
II: Aw, shucks, you're gonna make me blush. (insert human sarcasm here)  
CG: SHUT UP  
II: Yeah, yeah. Talk to you later, Karkat.  
CG: WHATEVER 

**\-- isometricIsosceles ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist --  
\-- carcinoGeneticist began trolling isometricIsosceles -- **

CG: WAIT  
CG: HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME  
II: You said it in your rant earlier, numbskull. 

**\-- isometricIsosceles ceased being trolled by carcinoGeneticist --**  


A few days later, while you were laying in bed with a migraine, your computer screen lit up and let out a chirpy _"Ping!"_

You groaned, grabbing your phone from the nightstand and turning it on. You were glad you had it set to the lowest brightness setting, because even this was killing you. You shuddered to think of the consequences of anything brighter. 

A quick look at the notifications told you who was responsible for your current suffering. 

**carcinoGeneticist began trolling you!**

_Dammit, Karkat._

You opened his message, squinting as you read it over, then deftly tapped out a message of your own. After you were done, you dropped your phone to the sheets and rolled over. Maybe a nap would relieve you of this hell.

_CG: WHY ARE YOU LAYING DOWN_  
CG: I THOUGHT HUMANS WERE DIURNAL  
CG: OR ARE YOU JUST SOME KIND OF FREAK?  
II: I'm sorry, but I'm really not in the mood for this right now, Karkat. Currently, it feels like someone found a small jackhammer and decided its best use would be to drill holes in my skull while singing all too enthusiastically in an off-key tune, with maybe a bit of nails scraping on a chalkboard thrown in the mix, so I'm going to take a nap. Talk to you later. 

\--

Karkat had no idea what some of that meant, but from the context, he guessed she was probably the victim of her own throbbing thinkpan. He could sympathize with that; it happened to him quite often, and frankly, it fucking sucked. He would leave her alone for a bit; he had things to do anyway, and hopefully she felt well enough to hold a conversation when he returned. 

\-- 

It had been a few hours by the time you woke up, and the only reason you had even done so was the incessant, simultaneous pinging of your phone and computer. 

You grumbled at the rude awakening, rubbing your eye and taking up your phone to check the messages. At least it would stop the noise, if nothing else.

  
**carcinoGeneticist began trolling you!**  
_(7:09 PM)_

**turntechGodhead began pestering you!**  
_(7:23 PM)_

**ectoBiologist began pestering you!**  
_(7:27 PM)_  


You felt your eyebrows rise in surprise and glanced at the time, wincing when you saw the numbers it displayed.

_9:42_

You immediately felt bad for leaving them hanging, tapping open the earliest started conversation- Karkat's. 

You scrolled past a whole bunch of ranting messages, finally reaching the most recent ones after almost an entire minute of scrolling. These had been sent a few moments ago.

  
**\-- carcinoGeneticist began trolling isometricIsosceles --**

CG: ARE YOU AWAKE YET?  
CG: OKAY, THAT'S A NO.  
CG: WHEN YOU WAKE UP, MESSAGE ME, FUCKASS. 

**\-- carcinoGeneticist ceased trolling isometricIsosceles --**  


Huh. He hardly even swore or insulted you. That was new.

It kind of made you nervous.

  
**\-- isometricIsosceles began pestering carcinoGeneticist --**

II: Hey, Karkat. Sorry I brushed you off earlier. What's up?  
CG: FINALLY. GOG, HOW LONG DO YOU EVEN SLEEP?  
II: I generally sleep until either someone wakes me or my internal clock makes me get up.  
II: Again, what's up? You're being persistent today, and I'm sure there's a reason.  
CG: JEGUS, DO YOU EVER STOP READING INTO THINGS? I'M STARTING TO RETHINK MY DECISION TO EVER TALK TO YOU. I DON'T WANT SOME NOOKWHIFF WHO THINKS THEY'RE HUMAN SHERLOCK TROLLMES PICKING AT MY THINKPAN AND RANDOMLY THROWING HOOFBEASTSHIT PSYCHOBABBLE NONSENSE AT ME.  
II: Haha, nice one, man. But I think we both know I'm right  
II: And just so you know, he's called "Sherlock Holmes" over here.  
CG: WHATEVER. ANYWAY, I NEED TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT SOMETHING.  
II: Go for it, dude.  
CG: OKAY  
CG: SO HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE QUADRANTS  
II: Uh, do you mean "how much do you remember and understand", or "how much of my rant do you remember"?  
CG: JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW  
CG: SUMMARIZE  
CG: USE YOUR PRIMITIVE HUMAN WORDS  
II: Oh, okay. In troll romance there are four quadrants.  
II: The red quadrant, marked by the heart symbol, is the most similar to human romance. It is based in positive feelings and involves sex and love, or, in the trolls' case, pity. Pity is looked at differently here, just saying, but that's whatever.  
II: The terms used by partners of this quadrant are matesprits, matespritship, and flushed feelings. Flush crushes are when one person has red feelings for another, but they either have not been confessed or are not returned.  
CG: OH MY GOG, I SAID SUMMARIZE  
II: Oh yeah. Sorry, I got a little caught up in it.  
II: It's just a really cool concept.  
CG: WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS LATER  
CG: RIGHT NOW, I NEED TO KNOW IF YOU GRASP THE OTHER QUADRANTS ANYWHERE NEAR AS WELL AS YOU SEEM TO GET MATESPRITSHIP  
II: Yeah, I have a basic understanding of auspisticism and kismesissitude, and moirallegiance I get. Why?  
CG: WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF SOMEONE WANTED ONE OF THOSE TYPES OF RELATIONSHIPS WITH YOU?  
II: Uh, depends.  
II: Karkat, I'm getting the feeling you have something to tell me.  
CG: FUCK  
CG: OKAY, DON'T FREAK OUT  
II: Karkat, are you pale for me?  
II: It's just a guess, so I'm sorry if I'm way off the mark  
CG: HOW DO YOU DO THAT  
CG: NEVER MIND  
CG: FORGET I SAID ANYTHING  
II: Dude, wait  
II: … So I was right, then, I guess  
II: I want to be your moirail, okay?  
II: What were you tryin' to pull, leaving without a response, you dork, jeez  
CG: SHUT THE FUCK UP, I'M NOT A DORK  
II: Yeah you are  
II: Moirails, then?  
CG: YES, MOIRAILS, DIPSHIT.  
II: Sweet  
II: And you don't need to filter yourself. I don't care if you insult me, you hissy dork. I know it's just how you show affection.  
II: My cat is the same way 

**\-- isometricIsosceles ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist --  
\-- carcinoGeneticist began trolling isometricIsosceles -- **

CG: DID YOU JUST COMPARE ME TO YOUR DOMESTIC FUCKING CLAWBEAST  
II: Yes 

**\-- isometricIsosceles ceased being trolled by carcinoGeneticist --**  


You were stifling a laugh, finding his mild indignation pretty amusing, when a thought struck you.

_How the fuck did he know I was laying down earlier, anyway?_

After a moment of feeling mildly spooked, you decided to check out what TG and EB had to say to you. 

You weren't really sure who they were for a while, but you met them through CG-- er, you meant Karkat-- so you thought they were trolls at first. 

They were quick to clear that up, informing you that all the trolls they knew of used a chat client called Trollian, not Pesterchum. You asked why the client programs were cross-compatible, and they replied that they weren't techies and therefore had no idea. And with that, you decided it probably didn't matter even if they were trolls. 

So you'd become friends, you guessed, though you didn't really want to share your name with them. They seemed alright with that, but gave you theirs anyway, asking for a nickname to call you by. You'd grudgingly given them one, and they were satisfied.

  
**\-- turntechGodhead began pestering isometricIsosceles --**

TG: [nickname]  
TG: dude  
TG: are you even alive  
TG: i was gonna share some sick beats with you  
TG: but if you’re not on then i’m not going to  
TG: fine, be that way 

**\-- turntechGodhead ceased pestering isometricIsosceles --  
\-- isometricIsosceles began pestering turntechGodhead -- **

II: Hey Dave!  
II: Sorry, I was sleeping  
TG: are you in a different time zone or something  
TG: because it was the middle of the day when i messaged you  
II: Probably, but that's not why I was asleep. It was the middle of the day for me too, I just had a migraine.  
TG: oh  
TG: that sucks  
TG: are you better now or  
II: Yeah, it's cool, it's gone for now. What time is it for you right now?  
TG: hang on  
TG: it’s like 9:06  
II: Oh, okay. It's like 10 for me.  
TG: huh  
TG: what time zone is that  
II: Eastern Standard Time, I think?  
TG: are you from maine  
TG: i feel like you could be from maine  
II: Pfft, no, Dave, I'm not from Maine.  
TG: how about new york  
TG: are you a city kid  
II: Dude, we are not doing this again  
TG: georgia?  
II: Goodbye, Dave 

**\-- isometricIsosceles ceased being pestered by turntechGodhead --**  


You rolled your eyes.  
 _He's a dork too,_ you thought to yourself, _even if he denies it._

Finally, you decided to check the messages left by the dorkiest kid yet. 

_John._

  
**\-- ectoBiologist began pestering isometricIsosceles --**

EB: hey [nickname]!  
EB: are you okay?  
EB: cg says you're not feeling well and dave says you're not answering.  
EB: hope you feel better soon! 

**\-- ectoBiologist ceased pestering isometricIsosceles --  
\-- isometricIsosceles began pestering ectoBiologist -- **

II: Aw, thanks John! You're sweet, but it was just a headache, and I'm fine now.  
II: Sorry if I woke you up or something, I just realized I have no idea what time it is for you  
EB: well, thanks, [nickname]! and that's good, i'm glad you're feeling better!  
EB: oh no, it's fine. it's only 7, so i won't be asleep for a while, but it's the thought that counts, so thanks!  
II: Haha, no problem, dude.  
II: Aw, man, I'm like 3 hours ahead of you  
EB: it's 10? why aren't you asleep?  
II: I just woke up from a long nap  
EB: oh :B  
II: I was a bit of a night owl to begin with, too, so I usually go to bed late  
EB: how do you get up for school?  
II: Reluctantly.  
EB: pffft, good one, [nickname]!  
II: Yeah, lol  
II: I should probably do my homework now  
II: Is yours done?  
EB: no  
II: What subjects?  
EB: history and algebra  
II: Do you want help? Math is pretty easy for me  
EB: no, i got it. thanks anyway though!  
II: Haha, no problem. Talk to you later!  
EB: later! 

**\-- isometricIsosceles ceased pestering ectoBiologist --**  


**Author's Note:**

> This entire chapter was typed on my phone, just fucking slay me--
> 
> And then, I copied and pasted it into Google Docs... added color to it... and it looked really nice, and I had mentioned the symbols for the quadrants, but then I decided to post it here, and I just... colored text requires CSS, and I'm not skilled enough to get into that, and the whole symbol thing uses greater than/less than symbols, which screws with the HTML, and I'm just not willing to try to deal with that. 
> 
> I probably did a shitty job with the HTML anyway, but I don't want to go back and fix it. 
> 
> Basically, this is better in Docs, and if you want me to give you the link to that, you can ask. I'll probably share it with you or something.
> 
> Also, I typed "GODLY PRESENCE", and I had to think about that for a while, because I wasn't sure whether to type "GOGLY" or "GODLY", and then I decided, "screw it, I'm just going to keep it at 'godly'." So, uh, that happened.
> 
> EDIT: Oh, and happy Independence Day, America.


End file.
